Magnetic non-contact angle detection devices are a technology that is used for measuring the angle of a driving body or a rotating body using magnets, magnetic sensors, etc. As magnetoresistive films used in magnetic sensor parts, magnetic thin films having anisotropic magnetoresistive effects, and so-called giant resistance of multilayer films in which ferromagnetic metal layers are stacked with interposed non-magnetic metal layers, or tunnel magnetoresistive effects, etc., are known. As a similar technology used as read sensors of magnetic heads, there is the spin valve film, and this is known as a technology with which giant magnetoresistive effects can be achieved with good sensitivity. A spin valve film comprises a ferromagnetic pinned layer whose magnetization is substantially pinned relative to the magnetic field to be detected, and a soft magnetic free layer whose magnetization rotates smoothly relative to the magnetization to be detected, wherein an electrical signal corresponding to the relative angle between both magnetizations is outputted.
Patent Document 1: JP 2002-303536 A
Patent Document 2: JP 2003-502674 A
Patent Document 3: JP 2002-519873 A
Patent Document 4: JP 8-7235 A
Patent Document 5: JP 2004-296000 A
Non-Patent Document 1: Appl. Phys., vol. 83, pp. 3720-3723